


Can't help it

by zayniekins



Category: NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Omega Mark Lee (NCT)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zayniekins/pseuds/zayniekins
Summary: Yukhei noticed when Mark would fool around with Jeno. He was envious that the younger alpha would be spending time with Mark as they were in the same subunit for ‘90s love’. He also ended up being on high alert whenever Mark joked around Yuta. The voice only vlive of Mark moaning ‘oppa’ to the entire world unwarrantedly popped up in his head whenever he saw those two together.(Yukhei is in pre-rut and can't help but be hypersensitive to the attention Mark is being showered with.)
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 11
Kudos: 211





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Something short I whipped up in like 2 hours. Inspired by the NCT Daily footage of NCT practicing for their 2020 MAMA performance and also Yukhei looking kinda pissed/tired during the performance. I don't actually think the summary steered you in the direction that I intended tbh but i didn't know how to end it and I just wanted to get something out.

The incessant ringing of an alarm was what woke Mark up from his deep slumber. Despite feeling a little out of it, the omega rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He shifted slightly under the duvet and blankets, intending to sit up and stop the alarm. The heavy arm around his waist reminded him of where he was and who he was with. 

Glancing behind him, Mark saw Yukhei. The alpha was fast asleep, his forehead resting against Mark’s back. His hair was mussed and he was shirtless despite Mark vividly remembering that Yukhei had gone to bed wearing an old sleepshirt. Carefully, Mark reached over to the nightstand and shut the alarm. 

Although he barely moved from his position of being plastered against Yukhei, the alpha let out a low groan as he slowly started to awake. Mark felt Yukhei’s fingers flex against his lower abdomen and he reached his own hand down to lace his fingers with the alpha’s. He waited patiently for Yukhei to gain his bearings. 

“Morning,” Yukhei whispered, nuzzling his face against Mark’s clothed back and inhaling his scent. His gruff, low voice had Mark biting his lip. 

“Good morning,” the omega whispered back. He turned in Yukhei’s embrace, letting go of Yukhei’s hand and instead placing his hand in the alpha’s hair to comb through the soft strands. Yukhei hummed, pleased with the attention that he was receiving from his omega. 

“What time is it?” Yukhei asked, eyes still closed. He was content to stay like this forever. 

“It’s six in the morning,” Mark replied, sitting up to comfortably rest against the pillows. He had set the alarm this early because he needed to get back to his own dorm and prepare for the day of rehearsals they had. The omega had stayed overnight at Yukhei’s room in the WayV dorms because the alpha had been going through pre-rut and having his omega close to him made him less cranky and aggressive.

Not to mention, Yukhei enjoyed scenting him as frequently as possible when he had schedules or projects as he knew that the omega would be around a lot of strangers. According to Yukhei, they all wouldn’t be able to resist an adorable omega like Mark unless there was a blatant claim that Mark was someone’s mate. 

Of course, the agency had not let them mate just yet. None of the NCT members were allowed to claim each other with mating bites. They wanted to market and milk each member’s availability as much as possible. Therefore, Yukhei had to settle with scenting Mark, much to his dissatisfaction.

“Do you have to go now?” Yukhei whined, opening his eyes to look up at Mark and give him a pout. 

“I do,” Mark confirmed, smiling softly. “We have a busy day today. My rehearsal is later than yours so you need to be up soon too.” 

Yukhei let out a sigh as he was reminded of his responsibilities. “I’ll walk you back,” the alpha said, untangling himself from Mark and sitting up. The omega frowned. 

“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine by myself,” he protested despite knowing deep down that it was a lost cause. He knew that Yukhei was feeling protective over him due to his pre-rut but he still liked to remind the alpha that he could take care of himself.

Yukhei gave Mark a look that said he was not going to be persuaded out of it and the omega reluctantly conceded. The two got dressed in appropriate attire to venture out of the dorms. They moved as quiet as they could, careful not to wake up the WayV cats and Bella. On their way out, Lucas grabbed a spare shirt from his laundry basket of clean clothes and stuffed it into Mark’s bag. 

Upon receiving a confused expression, the alpha merely explained that he wanted Mark to wear the shirt later to their dance practice. Chalking it up as another ‘Yukhei in pre-rut’ behaviour, Mark mentally shrugged and decided that he would please the alpha by following his demands. 

…

For today, the members of NCT were rehearsing for the MAMA 2020 performance. They were scheduled to do a stage with performances from each subunit before they came together and performed ‘Resonate’. WayV had their dance rehearsals first. As time passed, the rest of the members started trickling into the practice room. Everyone appeared by dorm, and of course, the members of the 10th floor were somewhat slightly late. 

Mark showed up in Yukhei’s shirt underneath his grey jean jacket. It was a simple black shirt that probably cost more than it should have. On Mark’s lean frame, it was slightly oversized, but the omega didn’t mind as it smelled like Yukhei and did not feel too warm. He could tell that the alpha was pleased from the calm pheromones that he radiated upon seeing Mark enter the practice room. 

Since they were recording b-roll for NCT Daily, the two could not be as affectionate as they would usually be. Not only that, the practice for the day would be very tiresome as it involved all 23 members needing to dance in sync. They could not afford to have any delay or disruption. Yukhei also knew that Mark took practice very seriously and his focus would be entirely on the choreography.

Throughout dance practice, Mark could feel Yukhei’s eyes on him, especially when he was performing his solo portion for ‘Kick It’. He couldn’t help but feel slightly self-conscious, wanting to do and dance well. It helped that his alpha seemed to notice the slight shift in Mark’s mood and accommodated by sending him positive pheromones. 

The omega noticed that Yukhei’s mood started to sour when Yuta jokingly stole his spot as center during the end of the ‘Kick It’ performance. It was no big deal and had the members laughing. However, since Yukhei was in pre-rut, he tended to be a bit more sensitive about these things. Especially since his omega’s personal space had been invaded by another alpha. 

Yukhei knew that every NCT member knew of his relationship with Mark and was respectful of that fact, but it was not enough to stop him from feeling possessive over the omega. Their relationship didn’t stop them from receiving any skinship from other members, and Mark had a close personal bond with each of the members. Yukhei had a feeling that if he were to show casual skinship to Mark for the cameras, he might end up losing control. Therefore, he made the hard decision to stay away and simply keep an eye on his omega. 

The alpha noticed when Mark would fool around with Jeno. He was envious that the younger alpha would be spending time with Mark as they were in the same subunit for ‘90s love’. He also ended up being on high alert whenever Mark joked around Yuta. The voice only vlive of Mark moaning ‘oppa’ to the entire world unwarrantedly popped up in his head whenever he saw those two together.

Even Chenle got his fair share of attention from Mark by simply wrapping himself around the elder, and this made Yukhei growl as he felt like his scent left on Mark would be intermixed with all these other scents. It didn’t help that Mark had taken off his jacket at some point and pulled up his sleeves, releasing his sweet pheromones to the world. 

By now, Yukhei knew that Mark was not aware about how his small quirks and actions were perceived by his fellow members. He knew that some of them eyed Mark’s exposed arms with interest, captivated by the reveal of unblemished milky skin. On other occasions, Yukhei would be proud that his omega was flaunting his beauty as Mark was usually shy and had no idea of his visual impact. However, he was in pre-rut. All he wanted to do was bundle Mark in a jacket, take him back to his room in the WayV dorm and keep the omega there forever. 

Now that dance practice had gotten more heated and everyone was sweating, there were more pheromones being released. NCT had more alpha members than omega ones so there was a pheromone unbalance. Due to this, Yukhei felt uneasy and restless. During his practice for ‘Make a Wish’, he couldn’t help but saunter close enough to Mark, reminding the omega with his pheromones that he was present.

By the end of dance practice, Yukhei knew he was in a slightly bad mood. The alpha would love to stake a stronger claim on Mark in other more sexual ways besides scenting. Unfortunately due to their packed schedule, there was nothing more that he could do about it than cuddling and spending time with his omega until his pre-rut and rut had passed.

As they were leaving the practice room, Mark sidled up to Yukhei, knowing that the alpha had gone into a negative headspace. The omega wrapped a hand around his bicep, squeezed and whispered, “I’ll see you soon, okay? Love you.” 

Just like that, Yukhei’s mood brightened slightly with something to look forward to for the rest of the day. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark has a suggestion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timeline gets a liiiitle bit confusing tbh but I hope we can all ignore that. This was not edited aha

True to his word, Mark texted Yukhei and told the alpha he would be coming to the WayV dorm to spend the night. Upon hearing that his omega was on his way to the dorm, the alpha was overjoyed, quickly arranging the blanket and comforters according to the omega’s liking. He even told Bella to sleep in Xiaojun’s room for the night, not wanting any disturbances or to share the omega’s attention with anybody.

As soon as there was a knock on the door, Yukhei sprinted out of his room to let Mark into the WayV dorm. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of Mark in one of his hoodies and sweatpants. He knew for a fact that the omega was not wearing anything underneath the hoodie and Yukhei’s hands itched to explore. 

However, Yukhei quickly noticed that Mark looked nervous. He ushered the omega inside. “What’s wrong?” he asked as soon as he had closed the door. Mark bit his lower lip and took the alpha’s hand in his. 

“Let’s talk in your room,” the omega whispered, pulling the alpha in the direction of his room. Yukhei was worried and confused but he obliged. Once they were in the privacy of his room, Mark let go of the alpha’s hand and started to pace along the length of the room. 

“Mark, what’s wrong?” Yukhei asked again. He sat down on the bed and patted the empty spot beside him. “Stop pacing and tell me what’s wrong.”

Mark let out a huff and sat down next to Yukhei. Since he wasn’t pacing anymore, his nervous energy went to his hands and soon his fingers started playing with the strings of his hoodie. The alpha slowly let out calming pheromones and waited patiently, knowing that Mark would eventually open up about what was worrying him. 

And he was right. 

“You know how your rut is coming up right?” Mark asked, still fiddling with his hoodie strings. His eyes flitted to Yukhei for a second before he decided to focus his gaze to the floor in front of him. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before dropping the bomb, “I was thinking that maybe you should have a partner for it.”

Yukhei felt his heart drop. “What?” he asked, incredulous. 

“I don’t want to see you in pain, but I have 90’s Love promotions coming up so I can’t help you with your rut. So, maybe you can ask one of the other omegas to help you out,” Mark explained quickly. Clearly the omega had spent quite a while thinking about it. Unfortunately, Yukhei was having none of it. 

“I don’t want a partner for my rut if it isn’t you,” the alpha protested. 

Mark sighed harshly, “If I didn’t have any performances, I wouldn’t be suggesting this Yukhei. If you don’t have a partner, you will be in pain and it will last longer unless you’re sexually satiated. So, just spend a few nights with Xiaojun or someone so that it’s over faster.”

“I don’t want to, Mark,” Yukhei scowled.

Mark frowned, “You let me have other partners, so I’m letting you do the same.” 

Since the omega had a busy schedule, he could not afford to take a sick day. Mark would usually take suppressants to help whenever he had his heat during a schedule. However, ever since he had been courted by Yukhei, his heats had become unbearable to the point that his suppressants were barely helping. 

Being the caring alpha he was, Yukhei had allowed Mark to satisfy his sexual needs with other members like Johnny and Yuta when he was unavailable. Thus, Mark was able to perform normally and keep up with his busy schedule. However, Mark had only recently noticed that Yukhei had never asked if he could have another partner when Mark was unavailable, which made the omega panic because he realized that it meant the alpha had been suffering alone. 

Mark’s inner omega was in turmoil, doubting if he was a good fit for Yukhei if he hadn’t even been considerate of the alpha’s needs. Although he wanted to be the one to care for Yukhei during his rut, Mark knew it wasn’t possible. Not with his schedule and Yukhei’s high libido that might affect the omega’s ability to perform. 

“I would rather endure the rut alone than have a partner that isn’t you,” Yukhei said, sounding resolute. Mark could see that the alpha wasn’t budging from his decision, but he had to try.

“It’s okay, Xuxi, “ Mark reassured him, clasping his hands on his lap to put on an unaffected facade so that the alpha would not worry about him. “I don’t mind if you have another partner. It’s not like we’re mated.”

What Mark meant by that last statement was that Yukhei having another partner would not hurt Mark and his inner omega because the pair have not completed their bond to become mates yet. If the couple had been mated to each other, having a partner that was not their mate would put them in emotional distress. 

Unfortunately, Mark’s statement became a bitter pill to swallow for Yukhei. The alpha was unhappily reminded of the fact that he had no actual claim over Mark. That his relationship with Mark wasn’t public, merely a secret kept behind closed doors. This reminder made the alpha’s mood darken and his pheromones started to sour. 

Mark noticed this change and his eyebrows furrowed, suddenly worried. “Yukhei?” The omega reached out a hand to touch the alpha but Yukhei moved out of the way at the last second.

The alpha stood up and faced away from Mark, one hand on his hip and the other pressing on his temples. A splitting headache was forming. That combined with his bad mood was a disastrous mix and one he did not want his omega to see. 

“I think you should leave,” Yukhei said in a low voice. 

Mark let out a surprised sound. “What? But, Xuxi--”

The alpha turned around and steeled his face, “Leave, Mark. I’ll manage on my own.” His unwaveringly cold gaze met with Mark’s concerned one. Yukhei watched as Mark’s emotions shifted from concerned to confused to heartbroken. 

Respecting the alpha’s decision, the omega stood up from the bed, “Alright, I’ll leave.” Yukhei did not watch him leave the room. He knew his resolve would break if he did so. Instead, he chose to focus his gaze on the bed where Mark previously sat. 

“I love you, Xuxi,” he heard Mark say softly before the omega closed the door.

... 

As it turned out, Yukhei’s rut occurred during the recording of their 2020 MAMA performance. Due to circumstances, the alpha had to take medicine to reduce the potentness of his pheromones and keep most of his emotions under control. However, his face could not help but slip into a frown from his usual smolder a few times during the recording and he knew the fans would pick up on it. 

Yukhei ended up having to spend a portion of his rut with Xiaojun. NCT had performances coming up that involved him and he wanted to avoid breaking character on stage. Although he was sexually satiated, Yukhei felt miserable. He felt as if he had betrayed Mark, even when Mark had given him permission to fuck other people. Not to mention, he hadn’t spoken to Mark since the night he told Mark to leave.

Whenever they had NCT2020 performances, Yukhei’s alpha was not pleased that he had his omega within proximity but could not satiate his sexual and emotional hunger for Mark due to their schedules. It didn’t help that for this era, the stylists had dressed Mark in outfits that had emphasized the assets he had as an omega. Ever since he dyed his hair pink and started to be more confident, the stylists definitely upped their ante with how they styled him.

With Taeyong and Ten, the stylists had put them in revealing outfits almost since the beginning because they wanted to capitalize on the confident, sexy aura that both omegas naturally exuded. For Mark, he had always been a shy omega and did not think that being sensual was his thing. He failed to realise that showing skin was not the only way to be perceived as sexy.

From the form-fitting outfits emphasizing his small waist to tight pants sticking to his legs like second skin and immediately bringing everyone’s attention to his ass, how could Yukhei not want to pounce? The alpha was sure that the bedazzled choker of Mark’s Resonance outfit was going to be the death of him.

With Xiaojun’s help, Yukhei was able to keep his rut under control. However, he felt ashamed because he ended up taking Mark’s suggestion instead of powering through like he had said he would. He felt like a failed alpha, unworthy of Mark who was an omega that excelled in everything he did. 

This was probably the reason why Yukhei had yet to talk to Mark after his rut had passed, not wanting to see the omega’s disappointed gaze directed towards him. He had almost slipped up once during a recording. He had looked over at Mark twice when Mark was repositioning them during their NCT2020 Resonance performance. There was no explanation for why he had to look over at Mark twice and he was sure that the cameras had caught him doing so. 

The internet was going to have a field day with that.

The universe also decided that Yukhei was in for a difficult day because once he got back to the WayV dorms after their schedule for the day, Taeyong and Ten were waiting for him in his room with equal looks of frustration. The alpha knew he was in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong and Ten will always look out for their baby Markie. How did you like the chapter? Let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> It kind of feels incomplete but I'm not sure if I want to make more of this verse. Let me know if you want more or have any requests, I wouldn't mind doing them. Hope you enjoyed it regardless, thank you!


End file.
